Thursday, August 18, 2016

MALTA: The Sliema to Valletta Harbor Cruise

I know, I know. It's a never-ending story but, believe it or not, I have saved Valletta (Malta's capital city) and Gozo (the other big island) to the end. So, yes, we're very close to ending our 11-day April holiday in Malta.

On our second day, Saturday, we decided to take the cruise of the Valletta Grand Harbor, also known as the Port of Valletta, to get an overview of the capital city, which we knew would be a constant point of reference our entire stay...which it was.

To get our bearings again, we took the bus from our Bugibba hotel to Valletta.

Actually, to be correct, we got off at the Sliema stop because that's where our harbor cruise began.

The Msida Parish Church in Msida was as far as the bus could take us.

From there we walked along the harbor for half an hour to our boat in Sliema.

It was a foretaste of what was to come...

...with plenty of people-watching along the way.

Once we found our docking spot and waited for the next boat, we had a nice koffie break

and watched all the other cruise boats taking off.

Remember, Malta relies on tourists for its livelihood.

Since we're waiting, here's a closeup of the approximate cruise route (not the land part, silly).

It took 75 minutes to go from the left dot around to the right dot,

starting in Sliema and ending on the eastern side of Valletta. [Google image]
As you can see, Valletta is a peninsula city, with the Grand Harbor on its eastern side.

Here's a partial sky-view to give another point of view. [Google image]

Our boat was the MSV Life "Sliema to Valletta" ferry.

We booked it through our travel agent because it was a longer tour than the others.

OMG! Where do I begin??!!

It doesn't take long to realize there are churches everywhere.
Measuring 900 x 630 meters, Valletta has 25 churches, most of which are Roman Catholic.

I keep saying it's Europe's best-kept secret for a reason, Ruth! It is truly a spectacular place to visit...while the weather is still cool, I must add. Right now it would be waaaaay too hot for us both!

This was so much fun for the money. We saw a lot and all we needed to do was sit and enjoy. I loved this little cruise. short of eyes all the time. Great pictures and those churches?...erm I think Malta and Gozo have altogether 365 churches in 316 km2 (122 sq mi)I loved seeing it all from the water. IHVJ

Collages are the way I can keep my images and have them visible in one sitting, Elaine, without having to run through an album (which is what I used to do). It takes a lot of time but for Astrid and me it's worth it, so that all our images don't go into that proverbial Black Hole. Thank you.

More RC you cannot get than in Malta. Not my thing, as you know, but worth seeing!

About Me

Over time, if we shoot authentically, follow the leanings of our heart, our body of work will become a silent testimony to who we are and what we care about. (Jan Phillips).
And so it is that as you follow my journey here, you will be "in soul" with what makes me tick.